3,245 research outputs found
Supporting ethnographic studies of ubiquitous computing in the wild
Ethnography has become a staple feature of IT research over the last twenty years, shaping our understanding of the social character of computing systems and informing their design in a wide variety of settings. The emergence of ubiquitous computing raises new challenges for ethnography however, distributing interaction across a burgeoning array of small, mobile devices and online environments which exploit invisible sensing systems. Understanding interaction requires ethnographers to reconcile interactions that are, for example, distributed across devices on the street with online interactions in order to assemble coherent understandings of the social character and purchase of ubiquitous computing systems. We draw upon four recent studies to show how ethnographers are replaying system recordings of interaction alongside existing resources such as video recordings to do this and identify key challenges that need to be met to support ethnographic study of ubiquitous computing in the wild
Solar energy conversion
If solar energy is to become a practical alternative to fossil fuels, we must have efficient ways to convert photons into electricity, fuel, and heat. The need for better conversion technologies is a driving force behind many recent developments in biology, materials, and especially nanoscience
Searching for music: understanding the discovery, acquisition, processing and organization of music in a domestic setting for design
This series of studies make it clear that a wide range of both physical and digital resources are involved in domestic music consumption. The selection of digital resources is particularly evident, and it can be observed that domestic music consumption is a fragmented business, taking advantage of many different "channels'' for getting, using and preparing music. While there are not a series of common channels, each home displayed a variety of methods in respect to using metadata in multiple different modalities: regardless, the activities involved in getting, using and preparing music cohere through a noticeable, emergent set of workflows. We find that not only does metadata support searching, as one might expect, but also it pervades all parts of the workflow and is used in real-time as a reflexive artifact and in terms of its future perceived/prescribed use. The findings of the research raise a series of possibilities and issues that form the basis for understanding and designing for metadata use
Problematising international placements as a site of intercultural learning
This paper theorises some of the learning outcomes of a three-year project concerning student learning in international social work placements in Malaysia. The problematic issue of promoting cultural and intercultural competence through such placements is examined, where overlapping hegemonies are discussed in terms of isomorphism of social work models, that of the nation state, together with those relating to professional values and knowledge, and the tyrannies of received ideas. A critical discussion of cultural competence as the rationale for international placements is discussed in terms of the development of the graduating social worker as a self-reflexive practitioner. The development of sustainable international partnerships able to support student placement and the issue of non-symmetrical reciprocation, typical of wide socio-economic differentials across global regions, is additionally discussed
Zooming into the coexisting regime of ferromagnetism and superconductivity in ErRh4B4 single crystals
High resolution measurements of the dynamic magnetic susceptibility are
reported for ferromagnetic re-entrant superconductor, ErRhB.
Detailed investigation of the coexisting regime reveals unusual
temperature-asymmetric and magnetically anisotropic behavior. The
superconducting phase appears via a series of discontinuous steps upon warming
from the ferromagnetic normal phase, whereas the ferromagnetic phase develops
via a gradual transition. A model based on local field inhomogeneity is
proposed to explain the observations
Peak effect in single crystal MgB superconductor for -axis
We have studied the phase diagram of MgB superconductor using a single
crystal for -axis. For the first time we report the
existence of peak effect in the screening current in MgB single crystal
for -axis. In the magnetic field regime kOe the
local fundamental diamagnetic moment displays a very narrow diamagnetic step,
with a temperature width of the same size as the zero dc-magnetic field
transition. For higher field this step is transformed to a peak which is
related with the peak effect in the screening current. Finally, for kOe
the diamagnetic step is transformed to a gradual transition. Our findings for
the vortex matter phase diagram for the MgB are closely related with
theoretical predictions concerning the vortex matter phase diagram of a type II
superconductor in the presence of weak point disorder.Comment: Has been submitted for publication in PRL since 21 February 200
Carbon Stars and other Luminous Stellar Populations in M33
The M33 galaxy is a nearby, relatively metal-poor, late-type spiral. Its
proximity and almost face-on inclination means that it projects over a large
area on the sky, making it an ideal candidate for wide-field CCD mosaic
imaging. Photometry was obtained for more than 10^6 stars covering a 74' x 56'
field centered on M33. Main sequence (MS), supergiant branch (SGB), red giant
branch (RGB) and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) populations are identified and
classified based on broad-band V and I photometry. Narrow-band filters are used
to measure spectral features allowing the AGB population to be further divided
into C and M-star types. The galactic structure of M33 is examined using star
counts, colour-colour and colour-magnitude selected stellar populations. We use
the C to M-star ratio to investigate the metallicity gradient in the disk of
M33. The C/M-star ratio is found to increase and then flatten with increasing
galactocentric radius in agreement with viscous disk formation models. The
C-star luminosity function is found to be similar to M31 and the SMC,
suggesting that C-stars should be useful distance indicators. The ``spectacular
arcs of carbon stars'' in M33 postulated recently by Block et al. (2004) are
found in our work to be simply an extension of M33's disk.Comment: 20 pages, 20 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astronomical
Journa
Systematic literature review of burden of illness in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP)
Altres ajuts: CSL Behring GmbHBackground: Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a rare neurological disorder characterised by muscle weakness and impaired sensory function. The present study provides a comprehensive literature review of the burden of illness of CIDP. Methods: Systematic literature search of PubMed, Embase, and key conferences in May 2019. Search terms identified studies on the epidemiology, humanistic burden, current treatment, and economic burden of CIDP published since 2009 in English. Results: Forty-five full texts and nineteen conference proceedings were identified on the epidemiology (n = 9), humanistic burden (n = 7), current treatment (n = 40), and economic burden (n = 8) of CIDP. Epidemiological studies showed incidence and prevalence of 0.2-1.6 and 0.8-8.9 per 100,000, respectively, depending on geography and diagnostic criteria. Humanistic burden studies revealed that patients experienced physical and psychosocial burden, including impaired physical function, pain and depression. Publications on current treatments reported on six main types of therapy: intravenous immunoglobulins, subcutaneous immunoglobulins, corticosteroids, plasma exchange, immunosuppressants, and immunomodulators. Treatments may be burdensome, due to adverse events and reduced independence caused by treatment administration setting. In Germany, UK, France, and the US, CIDP economic burden was driven by direct costs of treatment and hospitalisation. CIDP was associated with indirect costs driven by impaired productivity. Conclusions: This first systematic review of CIDP burden of illness demonstrates the high physical and psychosocial burden of this rare disease. Future research is required to fully characterise the burden of CIDP, and to understand how appropriate treatment can mitigate burden for patients and healthcare systems
Controlled Dynamics of Interfaces in a Vibrated Granular Layer
We present experimental study of a topological excitation, {\it interface},
in a vertically vibrated layer of granular material. We show that these
interfaces, separating regions of granular material oscillation with opposite
phases, can be shifted and controlled by a very small amount of an additional
subharmonic signal, mixed with the harmonic driving signal. The speed and the
direction of interface motion depends sensitively on the phase and the
amplitude of the subharmonic driving.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, RevTe
Inhomogeneity of the intrinsic magnetic field in superconducting YBa2Cu3OX compounds as revealed by rare-earth EPR-probe
X-band electron paramagnetic resonance on doped Er3+ and Yb3+ ions in
Y0.99(Yb,Er)0.01Ba2Cu3OX compounds with different oxygen contents in the wide
temperature range (4-120)K have been made. In the superconducting species, the
strong dependencies of the linewidth and resonance line position from the sweep
direction of the applied magnetic field are revealed at the temperatures
significantly below TC. The possible origins of the observed hysteresis are
analyzed. Applicability of the presented EPR approach to extract information
about the dynamics of the flux-line lattice and critical state parameters
(critical current density, magnetic penetration depth, and characteristic
spatial scale of the inhomogeneity) is discussedComment: 17 pages, 5 Figures. Renewed versio
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